Aspen is a place for leaders to lift their sights above the possessions which possess them. To confront their own nature as human beings, to regain control over their own humanity by becoming more self-aware, more self-correcting, and hence more self-fulfilling.

Walter P. Paepcke, Aspen Institute Co-Founder

Brendan McCord

Founder and Chair, Cosmos Institute

Brendan McCord is founder and Chair of the Cosmos Institute, where he cultivates philosopher-builders to steer AI toward human flourishing. Think Benjamin Franklin: someone who pictured a better world and built the institutions to make it real. The institute reaches over a million subscribers, awards more than 100 grants a year, trains fellows at its AI lab at Oxford, and backs founders through Cosmos Ventures. McCord teaches at Oxford and writes widely on AI, human autonomy, and education. In the private sector, he was founding CEO of two AI startups acquired for $400 million and President of an AI holding company that returned billions to its investors. He spent 610 days on a submarine, much of it under Arctic ice. He lives in Austin with his wife and two young kids.